Welcome!

Hello, and welcome to my site! My name is Jen O’Sullivan and I am a wedding photographer based in Southern California with studios in Irvine, Beverly Hills, and Pasadena. I am all about the best photography and service with no frills. I want the best in life and you should too when it comes to your photography. Basically how I work, is I give you the absolute best product without all the extra add-ons and up charges. There are some things, however that you get with me that you just can't find with most photographers. I'd love to share them with you when you get a moment. The wedding world is so full of “added value” and it is really hard to know what your are truly getting when it comes to your photographer. When all is said and done, your photos are the only thing you will have to relive this day you put so much effort into. I hope to hear from you soon as I book up fast and only take a very limited number of couples per year.
xo, Jen

I am so thrilled to pre-release my newest book: The Marketing Insomniac: Marketing For the New Economy. Here is a look inside the book. If you want to pre-order your copy, please email me at jen@jenosullivan.com or click here to see more info on the book. It is 120 pages soft cover and is packed with 27 of my tired and true marketing tactics as well as the most valuable aspects of successful business practice. The price of the book is $24.99.

Excerpt from the book:
I have a problem. I can’t sleep. It’s quiet. It’s calm. It’s the perfect incubator for my mind. The moment my head hits the pillow, my brain starts working. “How can I get that client to book me?” “How can I increase my conversion rate from the trade show I just did?” “What’s the best approach to take with the new account I want to land?” Sometimes it’s simply, “How am I going to pay all my bills this month?” If that last statement is you and you own your own business, then you hold in your hands a gift.

This book is my gift to you. It represents the countless hours of sleep I’ve missed coming up with random ideas that work and my intense and continuous brainstorming of new and rejuvenated ways to get my business noticed. It also represents my desire to give back to those who are hurting and are in need of new life breathed into their business. I understand. Nothing was ever handed to me on a silver platter. I never got “in” because I knew the right person. I’ve worked hard for every cent I make. This book is personal.

I honestly do not know why my brain works the way it does, but here is a peek into my past and how my thought process works. The moment I’m told I cannot do something all I hear is, “GAME ON!” I make it my mission to prove I can. Here are some examples:

When I was in college for commercial photography, several of my instructors said I could not become a successful photographer and have kids. I was irritated and appalled at the time. Now I have a successful photography business and spend tons of time with my family. I give a big, “Neener, neener, neener!” to those teachers.
One year, my loving and well-meaning husband told me that I couldn’t send out my holiday card because the massive cost would deplete our low funds at the time. Backed up against that wall, I figured out a way to send them all out without spending any of my own money. In the process, I stumbled upon one of my most lucrative marketing campaigns to date.

I have been told over and over again that print advertising is dead. There is a reason for this. It simply does not work for small business owners because it cannot when limited funds confine us to only one ad per year. Well, I have figured out a way to consistently get full page advertising without paying for them.

I hear that e-mail campaigns fail because people are immune to them. Spam filters and our brain filters go into auto delete mode if an e-mail is coming from someone we don’t know. Once again, being told it won’t or can’t work, I found a way to make it work brilliantly.

There are countless stories of my stubborn refusal to be limited by the consensus of how business must be run. They all reveal one thing: I’ve learned to solve problems others insist are unsolvable. As a business owner, it is my best asset. It should be yours, too. If you are not a great problem solver, not to worry. You can learn and you will get better at it the more you do it. Putting yourself up against the wall makes you think of another way around it. Allow yourself space to think it through. You will come up with a solution every time. Usually the process is fun because at the end you get a big reward.

Marketing. It’s one of my favorite things to do. No, I did not go to school to learn what I know. Recently, I had a colleague ask me, or rather tell me, “You went to business school, right? You must have or else I will be pretty mad at the amount of money I spent on my education.” I just smiled. What could I say? “Nope. I never went to business school. Just fun art school in Pasadena.” She would kill me – or her teachers.

Don’t get me wrong. Marketing is hard. It takes many hours of my coveted sleep time. I have become the true Marketing Insomniac. When I go to bed, the most intense time of business clarity begins. Most nights, I am right back up jotting something down within minutes of lying down. The worst is when I wake up out of a dead sleep at 3am and need to write out a thought on my computer. Eyes squinting, barely able to see the screen because it is way too bright, I madly type my thought and then stumble back to bed. Honestly, I sometimes feel like the majority of my time is spent either marketing or thinking about marketing. It is constantly on my mind. The work-a-holic in me is actually the marketing-a-holic.

On the following pages you’ll find marketing tips, business tools, and some productivity principles to help you stay focused. All three elements are key to having a successful marketing plan. That’s why after sharing my marketing insights in the Marketing Tactics section, I’ve included the Business Basics and Productivity Strategies sections. They are the foundations that can support great marketing. Read the entire book. Even if you have great marketing tactics, they will not be a success if your business is not run well and if you yourself are not operating in a productive way. How you set up your business and your work ethic are more important than how you execute a marketing idea.

Marketing comes down to one principle: Solving problems turns ideas into sales, which equals more money in your pocket. Your problems encompass everything from your branding to how you market. The solutions are only limited by your imagination, ingenuity, and determination to grow your business.